Marine engineer Leow Ban Tat wasn’t content to sail into a comfortable retirement. With the right technologies, farming methods and government support, he is living his dream of rearing healthy fish to feed the masses.
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This story by CNA Insider is produced in collaboration with the ‪@SGFoodAgency‬ Singapore Food Agency.
For more on how Singapore’s food future is being shaped, visit: www.ourfoodfuture.gov.sg
Eco-Ark is one of the sea-based fish farms contributing to Singapore’s ambitious ’30 by 30' goal.
The country aims to build the agri-food industry’s capability and capacity to produce 30 per cent of its nutritional needs by 2030 - up from less than 10 per cent today - by ramping up its productivity in ways that are resource-optimal, climate-resilient, and sustainable both environmentally and commercially.
The government believes fish is a nutritious source of protein that the country can produce sustainably, and the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) aims to give the aquaculture industry a leg-up through various measures.
These include the launch of new sea space tenders in the southern waters and East Johor Straits from the end of this year, with lease tenures of 20+10 years that provide greater certainty so that farmers can plan and invest for the longer term, the agency said this month.
The SFA is also supporting the transformation of the aquaculture sector into a highly productive, climate-resilient and resource-efficient one that leverages technology and appropriate farm management methods.
Interested farms can tap its S$60-million Agri-Food Cluster Transformation (ACT) Fund launched last year. It replaced the Agriculture Productivity Fund which committed over S$50 million to 132 companies - including Eco-Ark - from 2014 to 2021.
As of Dec 31, 2021, the agency has received 23 applications for ACT funding. Eight have been approved, while the rest are being processed and evaluated, the SFA said.
The efforts are starting to bear fruit. In 2021, Singapore’s fish farms produced 4,200 tonnes of fish, an increase of 33 per cent from a decade ago.
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